


I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice

by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)



Series: Spreading Positivity 2020 [22]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Derek Hale Loves Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale is a Softie, Don't copy to another site, Feelings, Feelings Realization, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski Loves Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski is a Nice Thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23540029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasterella/pseuds/isthatbloodonhisshirt
Summary: Stiles was literally everything to him, and Derek didn’t know how to handle that. He didn’t know how to explain to Stiles that he wanted him to stop running headlong into danger not because he couldn’t take care of himself, but because Derek would literally lose his mind if something happened to him. He didn’t know how to ask him to spend more time together, maybe go out and grab dinner, catch a movie, go for a fuckingwalk, he didn’t know. He just wanted to be able to spend time with him, and he didn’t know how to ask.He knew Scott had noticed. Guy was an idiot in most things, but he was also a Werewolf. He’d clued in that something had changed. Maybe he’d noticed that there were more casual touches between Derek and Stiles, like when he’d pat his back, or brush his arm, or grab his shoulder. Maybe he’d noticed the scents coming off Derek whenever he was near Stiles, which could range from longing, to want, to self-doubt, to arousal.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Spreading Positivity 2020 [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667605
Comments: 31
Kudos: 1207





	I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice

It had been a long day. And a long night before that. And a long _week_ before that. Really, everything felt long right now, and Derek knew why. He tried to ignore why, and he tried not to _think_ about why, but it didn’t do much good. 

He was in love with Stiles. Honestly, he didn’t know how this had happened. He remembered a time when he’d hated him, found him annoying and meddlesome. This stupid human shit-stain of a kid who couldn’t just leave well enough alone. Who ran headfirst into danger, always fought hard to do the right thing, protected people even if they didn’t always deserve it. 

The human idiot who’d helped Derek into his Jeep, brought him where he needed to be, actually honestly had been ready to cut off his wolfsbane-infected arm despite clearly not wanting to. The human who’d waded water with a paralysed two-hundred pound Alpha Werewolf for _two hours_ and had almost drowned because he refused to let him go. The human who’d placed a gentle, caring hand on Derek’s shoulder when he’d been forced to kill Boyd. 

The human who’d somehow become his anchor, his sanity, his entire reason to continue living even when everyone and everything kept trying to push Derek down further into the dirt. 

Stiles was literally everything to him, and Derek didn’t know how to handle that. He didn’t know how to explain to Stiles that he wanted him to stop running headlong into danger not because he couldn’t take care of himself, but because Derek would literally lose his mind if something happened to him. He didn’t know how to ask him to spend more time together, maybe go out and grab dinner, catch a movie, go for a fucking _walk_ , he didn’t know. He just wanted to be able to spend time with him, and he didn’t know how to ask. 

He knew Scott had noticed. Guy was an idiot in most things, but he was also a Werewolf. He’d clued in that something had changed. Maybe he’d noticed that there were more casual touches between Derek and Stiles, like when he’d pat his back, or brush his arm, or grab his shoulder. Maybe he’d noticed the scents coming off Derek whenever he was near Stiles, which could range from longing, to want, to self-doubt, to arousal. 

Or maybe he’d just noticed that Derek stared at Stiles a _little_ too much. When he spoke, everyone looked at Stiles, but Derek would keep watching him even after someone else piped up. He couldn’t help it, his eyes were just drawn to him all the time. He liked how Stiles made him feel, how he’d always made him feel. 

Like he was worth something. Someone worth protecting, helping, loving, saving. Someone who was the king on his chessboard who needed to be kept safe at all costs, no matter how many others had to fall. 

There was a reason Stiles had become his anchor. A reason Derek had given up his anger as a source of staying grounded and replaced it with this stupid, stubborn, dumbass human kid. 

Except... Stiles wasn’t a kid anymore. Hadn’t been a kid for a long time. When Derek had met him at eighteen, Stiles had been an annoying little sixteen year old. He was so fucking sassy that Derek sometimes wondered if he could look up the word ‘sass’ in the dictionary and it would just have a huge picture of Stiles. 

But Derek wasn’t eighteen anymore, and Stiles wasn’t sixteen. No, Stiles had grown up, and was now a very mature and gorgeous twenty-seven year old and every time Derek saw him, it was like he was going to lose his mind. He’d never once imagined that eleven years after bitching out some kid for being on private property that he’d want to see him all the time, have him in his bed, taste his skin. It was disorienting and frustrating and _confusing_. 

That didn’t make it any less true, though. Derek was in love with Stiles, someone he saw every day and spent time with in a group all the time. Someone he could never have no matter how much he wanted him. 

Derek was still lying on his back on the couch in the loft when he heard it. The sound of a familiar engine. It had gotten worse as the years passed, but it still ran, so until it stopped working altogether, Derek knew it would continue to chug along wherever its owner needed to go. 

He didn’t know why Stiles was coming to see him. Derek’s place was the only thing in the area, so he couldn’t be doing anywhere else. Maybe he had something to add about the Gnomes they’d just shooed out of Beacon Hills. 

Derek had always hated those creepy little garden Gnomes, real ones were even worse. 

When the car stopped and the engine turned off, Derek listened to Stiles climb out of the Jeep, the door slamming loudly once. Then again. And a third time, even harder. The driver’s side door hadn’t been shutting properly of late, which explained that. 

He listened to Stiles enter the building. Listened to him climb the stairs. Listened to him stop outside the loft door. He wondered if maybe Stiles would knock and then leave if Derek didn’t answer. Then again, the Camaro was outside, so he’d know Derek was home. 

But maybe Derek went out for a run. He did that sometimes. He could turn into a wolf, running through the woods on four legs was actually really relaxing. And kind of fun, if he was honest. He liked chasing rabbits, though he’d never hurt them. He just liked the way they hopped, it was cute. 

He just didn’t want to have Stiles in his loft, not now. Not when his smell would linger and Derek would feel tempted to stick his hands in his pants the second the other man left. He wanted him to go away and not torture him like this. 

Why he was dumb enough to think Stiles would knock, he had no idea. Stiles had never knocked before, why would today be any different? 

The loft door slid open loudly, Stiles stepping into Derek’s home and bringing his intoxicating scent with him. Derek was going to hell for how much he was going to jerk off to that smell later. 

“Derek?” Stiles wandered further into the loft, eyes catching sight of him on the couch. Stiles cocked an eyebrow at him while heading over to where he was, sitting down on the coffee table right in front of the couch. “You okay, big guy?” 

“Coffee tables aren’t for people to sit on,” was his eloquent answer, one arm thrown over his head and his other hand on his chest while he resolutely stared at the ceiling. It was bad enough he’d jerk off to his scent later, he didn’t need to be staring at him like a lovesick idiot. 

“Well you’re taking up the whole couch, so I’m a little short on places to sit.” He could hear the small smile in his voice, and kind of hated how perfectly he could picture it. 

God, he was gorgeous. Why did he have to grow out of that awkward teenager stage? Even when he’d hit seventeen he’d started to grow out of it, that wasn’t fair. He wasn’t supposed to be gorgeous, that was just _mean_. 

“What do you want, Stiles? It’s been a long day.” 

“I know. I just, uh. I thought we should talk. You know, about that thing you never want to talk about?” 

“What thing?” Derek asked, finally turning to look at him, frowning. 

“Well, I was going to say feelings in general, but I meant more the, you know.” Stiles motioned awkwardly between them. “The thing going on here. With—you know, with you and me.” 

Scott had sold him out. That mother _fucker_! He’d actually sold Derek out! He’d told Stiles—of _course_ he’d told Stiles, they were best fucking friends!—and now he was here to let him down easy. Tell him he was flattered, but not interested. 

Wow, and here Derek thought he could sink no lower. 

“Fucking Scott,” Derek hissed angrily, turning his glare on the ceiling so he wouldn’t have to look at Stiles’ face while he tried to let him down easy. 

“Fucking Scott what?” Stiles sounded confused. Then, “Wait, _Scott_ knows?!” 

“Of course Scott knows, he’s a _Werewolf_ ,” Derek snapped, turning to scowl at Stiles. It lost some of its intensity at the confusion on his face. “Wait, Scott didn’t tell you?” 

“No, he sure didn’t, and now I’m questioning our friendship,” Stiles insisted with a rather adorable pout, raking one hand through his hair. “Jerk.” 

Derek wondered if this had been some kind of trap, getting Derek to admit what Stiles had said was true, but he dismissed that quickly. How could Stiles have known there was anything to admit? 

Actually, how _could_ Stiles have known there was anything to admit? 

“If Scott didn’t tell you, how did you know?” Derek wasn’t going to actually _say_ the words, but now he had to know who else had figured it out to tell Stiles. 

Apparently no one, which he should’ve figured out, because Stiles was smart. 

Stiles’ smile was soft when he said, “I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice.” 

Derek stared at him for a long while. Shit, he’d always assumed no one but Scott had been paying attention to him staring at Stiles, but apparently _Stiles_ had been paying plenty attention. “Oh,” he said. He turned back to glare at the ceiling. “Spare me the easy letdown. It won’t change how we work together. I’ve been feeling this way for a long time and it hasn’t affected anything yet, so you don’t have to worry about how this is going to change things.” 

“Wow,” Stiles said, letting out a small laugh. “You _suck_ at reading the mood. That’s a huge problem for a Werewolf, you know.” 

“Thanks for sparing my feelings,” Derek said dryly. 

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Stiles said with a sigh. “Wanna go for dinner?” 

Derek’s brain came to a screeching halt before he turned to look at Stiles again. He was staring at Derek like he kind of pitied his stupidity, lips pressed together and eyebrows raised. 

“What?” 

“Dinner. You know, that thing people do together to get to know each other? I mean, we already know each other, but I guess it’s like—tradition? Is it tradition to go to dinner for a first date? I don’t really know much about dating, I haven’t had the opportunity to do it much, what with the massive crush I’ve had on the dumbest Werewolf in existence.” 

Derek just kept staring at Stiles because, what was he saying? Was he—? 

“First date?” Derek repeated stupidly. 

“I mean, officially.” Stiles brought his hands up to put quotations around the last word. “We’ve kind of been on dates, I think. Like, unintentional ones. Our leisurely swim in that pool that one year, and me saving your life all those times, and you saving mine that _one_ time, and all the nights of research and pizza we’ve done. But I feel like a real sit-down in an actual restaurant is what normal people do when they go on dates. Not everyone’s life is as exciting as ours.” Stiles smirked at him. 

It was hard to figure out if he’d passed out and was dreaming or not, because there was no way this was happening, and yet Derek _knew_ he was awake, so seriously, what? 

“You have a crush on me?” 

“Just for the past five and a half years, thanks for noticing.” 

Holy shit, this was happening. “You want to go on a date with me?” 

“That was the idea when I asked you to dinner.” Stiles was playing with the skin around one of his thumbnails nervously, but he kept his intense gaze locked on Derek. “So...? Wanna grab dinner with me? In a date-like capacity?” 

“I—yes. I do.” 

Stiles’ smile lit up his whole face and he reached out to smack Derek lightly in the arm. “See? Feelings aren’t so hard, right? Come on, let’s go see if we can’t snag a table at Alonzo’s, I’m feeling like Italian food. You like fettuccine alfredo, right? That place makes _amazing_ alfredo, and their pizzas are to die for.” 

When Stiles stood up to head for the door, Derek was slow to follow. His brain had kind of shut down and he was trying to get it to reboot. 

Stiles liked him. The guy he was in love with, that he’d been pining after for years, had just asked him to dinner and admitted to having a crush on him for _five years_. And now they were going to dinner. Like a normal couple. Like one of those things normal people did. 

They’d go to dinner, then maybe walk along the edge of the preserve, then maybe Derek would invite him back up or they’d head to Stiles’ place. Shit, maybe they’d make out, or even sleep over, or—he didn’t know! But this was crazy and insane and his brain literally wasn’t working. 

“Hey,” Stiles said, poking his head back into the loft. “You coming? Alonzo’s awaits!” 

“Yeah,” Derek said, smiling so brightly it actually hurt his face. “Yeah, I’m coming.” 

He got up off the couch, feeling like this was the best day _ever_. 

**END.**

**Author's Note:**

> Teen Wolf (c) Jeff Davis 
> 
> Come chill with me on [Tumblr](https://isthatbloodonhisshirt.tumblr.com/).


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